Center for Constitutional Rights Condemns Obama for Admitting Yemeni Interim President to the U.S. | Common Dreams

Center for Constitutional Rights Condemns Obama for Admitting Yemeni Interim President to the U.S. | Common Dreams

Labels: Africa, Human Rights and Liberties, yemen

Impunity Watch : Four High-Ranking Kenyans Indicted by ICC

Impunity Watch � Blog Archive � Four High-Ranking Kenyans Indicted by ICC: THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The future of Kenyan politics entered a state of flux on Monday, after the International Criminal Court confirmed charges against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto, Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and Journalist Joshua Sang. All four men are major players in the present regime, but the charges against Kenyatta, who also serves as Finance Minister, and Ruto of are particular note. Both plan to run for president of the east African country this year.

Labels: Africa, hague, world court

First World Greed and a Fourth World Debt | Nigeria, IMF and Neocolonialism

“The big bankers of the world, whopractise the terrorism of money, are more powerful than kings andfield marshals, even more than the Pope of Rome himself. They neverdirty their hands. They kill no-one: they limit themselves toapplauding the show.”― Eduardo Hughes Galeano

"Brillianttheorists of economics do not find it worthwhile to spend timediscussing issues of poverty and hunger. They believe that these willbe resolved when general economic prosperity increases. Theseeconomists spend all their talents detailing the process ofdevelopment and prosperity, but rarely reflect on the origin anddevelopment of poverty and hunger. A a result, poverty continues.” ―Muhammad Yunus

“Ispent 33 years and four months in active military service and duringthat period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man forBig Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was aracketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico andespecially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helpedmake Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys tocollect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen CentralAmerican republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purifyNicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the Americansugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for theAmerican fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to itthat Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, Imight have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was tooperate his racket in three districts. I operated on threecontinents.” ― Smedley D. Butler, Waris a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General

Labels: Africa, American colonialism, IMF, iraq, liberalism, Mexico, neo colonialism, Nigeria, oil, World Bank

First World Greed and a Fourth World Debt | Nigeria, IMF and Neocolonialism

“The big bankers of the world, whopractise the terrorism of money, are more powerful than kings andfield marshals, even more than the Pope of Rome himself. They neverdirty their hands. They kill no-one: they limit themselves toapplauding the show.”― Eduardo Hughes Galeano

"Brillianttheorists of economics do not find it worthwhile to spend timediscussing issues of poverty and hunger. They believe that these willbe resolved when general economic prosperity increases. Theseeconomists spend all their talents detailing the process ofdevelopment and prosperity, but rarely reflect on the origin anddevelopment of poverty and hunger. A a result, poverty continues.” ―Muhammad Yunus

“Ispent 33 years and four months in active military service and duringthat period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man forBig Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was aracketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico andespecially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helpedmake Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys tocollect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen CentralAmerican republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purifyNicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the Americansugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for theAmerican fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to itthat Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, Imight have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was tooperate his racket in three districts. I operated on threecontinents.” ― Smedley D. Butler, Waris a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General

Labels: Africa, American colonialism, IMF, iraq, liberalism, Mexico, neo colonialism, Nigeria, oil, World Bank

[Abahlali] Global Call-In and Solidarity Actions for Evicted KwaMashu Community

For Immediate Release
7January 2012

Contact
OccupyCOP17@gmail.com
Kevin Buckland +33 6 88 44 79 70
Jabulile Mdlalose (+27) 0745425939
Nkyaniso Madlala (+27) 0843271176 or 0762133908

GLOBAL SOLIDARITY ACTIONS FOR KWAMASHU COMMUNITY DISPLACED BY COP17
Activists from Around the World Call Councillor Lucky Mdlalose of KwaMashu

London - Councilor Lucky Mdlalose's of KwaMashu's phone was ringing non-stop on
Friday as activists from all over the world phoned in as part of a Global Day
of Action to support a community from KwaMashu that had been evicted because of
the COP17 Climate Conference in November. This Global Action, with people
calling in from the United States, India, Belgium, the UK and others, also
included a protest in London at the South African Embassy.

“I called because no one should have their home stolen from them, especially
not by their own Government” reported Anna Collins of the UK.

Activists from “Occupy COP17”, who came to Durban for the COP17 conference,
had developed a close relationship with the community. “In our General
Assembly, someone told us of how a community had been illegally evicted because
of the COP17, so we called them.” said Kevin Buckland from the International
NGO 350.org, “two days later, some of us from Occupy COP17 went to meet with
them. As soon as we arrived we were moved to tears by hearing about the
injustice that had occurred. They told us their story on the very place where
there houses had stood just weeks before. Now all that was left were piles of
broken roofing and scattered objects."

On the last day of the COP17 Climate Change Conference, community members
attended a “Vigil For Climate Justice” just outside the ICC Center where
the Climate Negotiations were being held. At the vigil, they shared their story
and young members from the community performed a play reenacting the illegal
eviction. Many of the people who witnessed the performance were among those to
call-in on Friday.  Community member Jabulilie Mdlalose said “They destroyed
our houses. They destroy our lives. They took our food. They took out clothes.
They took everything from us. And they said we are messing up the place because
of the COP17. Today we don't have a shelter. ”

“Now that we have met them and heard their story,” said Buckland “we
cannot let them suffer alone, and we will not abandon. Councillor Lucky
Mdlalose: people all over the world will be watching how you act on this. We
will stand by our friends from KwaMashu until justice is served.”

This community of 31 families had originally been evicted in 2007 to build a
road for the World Cup. They were given no alternative housing and eventually
built homes in KwaMashu, District 7. On November 23rd the community, consisting
mostly of women and children, were illegally evicted without an eviction order
and without an assessment required by the PIE act of 1998.

Shortly after the illegal eviction the community appealed to local authorities
to let them sleep in a public hall. They were barred from entering the hall,
and so, having nowhere else to go, they returned to the site where there homes
had been and huddled under plastic sheets. In the torrential rainstorm that
night, one man, Mwempi Caka, caught a chill and died soon after. The community
has until now received no attention from local authorities despite attempts to
deliver legal documents and repeated requests for meetings.

Anna Collins, an organizer from OccupyLondon who was in Durban for the Climate
Negotiations and helped to organize the Action at the South African Embassy
said, "We decided to organize this solidarity action at the South African
Embassy because one death is already too much. Many of these community members
are grandmothers and small children, they should not have to beg to sleep on
neighbors floors any longer. One grandmother is very sick, and a young girl
will be having a heart operation this month. They need their homes back, they
need immediate action!”

The feeling of betrayl is strong among the community, many of whom had recently
voted for Councillor Lucky Mdlalose and are hoping he will follow through on
his promises to bring improved living conditions to KwaMashu. "The municipality
said we were messing up the community and they didn't want the people coming to
Durban for the United Nations conference to see us," said Jabulile Mdlalose.
"They are ashamed of us. We have nowhere to go in our own country. The worst
part is that the order to destroy our community came from a councilman who had
come campaigning in our neighbourhoods just months before, promising that he
would get us running water and electricity if we voted for him. We voted for
him expecting something better and we got this."

“We stand in solidarity with OccupyKwaMashu because this is not just the
story of 31 families, but the story of a government who is not looking out for
its own people. Our constitution was created to protect our people from
injutices such as this. If our government violently evicts its own civilians
from public land without offering them an alternative is not the South Africa
that Nelson Mandela and others worked so hard to create,” reported Nkyaniso
Madlala of Durban. 

For more information please visit www.occupycop17.org

PHOTO: Activists Gather in front of the South African Embassy in London with
images of some of the community members from KwaMashu Township who were evicted
because of the COP17 conference. Photo by Anna Collins
------------
http://www.abahlali.org
http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/
http://www.antieviction.org.za 

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Labels: Africa, south africa

[Abahlali] Update from the Valley View Struggle

http://www.abahlali.org - Sekwanele! - http://antieviction.org.za/


1 December 2011--Today, the flats of the 77 families evicted from the Valley
View Flats in Hillary by the Social Housing Company (SOHCO) were being given to
new tenants. However, the evicted tenants picketed against the introduction of
new tenants in their flats.  The evicted residents protested by holding a
picket line in front of their flats. They appealed to a sense of solidarity
from the new tenants and they made it very clear that crossing a picket line
and moving into the home of an evicted person is no different to crossing a
picket line and scabbing at a strike. 

We call upon all people seeking to find housing in Valley View to boycott SOHCO
while the previous tenants fight their way back to their homes.  These new
tenants will certainly become victims of SOHCO and no one should trust them
with their families' homes.  New tenants should be warned that when SOHCO wants
you to come in, they treat you like a king, but after a few months of taking
your money, they begin to increase your rent without cause or explanation.  We
advise all new tenants to go to SOHCO to claim their rental deposits back
rather than cross the picket line and betray the people who have already been
evicted. 

Although this was meant to be a protest of peaceful resistance, police officers
from the Bellaire Police Station intimidated one of the independent newspaper
photographers and an overseas researcher there to document our struggle.  The
officer threatened to confiscate and destroy both the journalist’s and the
researcher’s cameras.     

The evicted residents are demanding that they be allowed to return to their
flats and they are warning that they will not give up this struggle until they
have been able to return to their homes.  The evicted residents also wish to
note that SOHCO has failed to govern these flats properly and that, therefore,
the residents must be allowed to take over the governance of the flats on their
own by forming a cooperative. The private part of this so called
'public-private partnership' must be expelled from the project and it must
become a partnership between the state and the residents' cooperative.

The evicted residents also wish to note that SOHCO is charging different rents
to everyone even when the size of houses and facilities are the same.  The
tenants are prepared for everyone to pay the same rent, the rent that was
agreed to first, which is R850 per month (excluding lights and water) but that
they cannot afford to pay the new rent.  When SOHCO was advertising these
homes, we were promised that we could rent to own. But after signing the lease
agreement, it became clear that we would be renters for life.  

The evicted residents also wish to note that each citizen in South Africa that
is eligible for access to state housing gets a housing subsidy. That subsidy
usually goes towards an RDP house. In this case it went towards the
'public-private partnership' that built the Valley View flats and collects the
rent for the flats. But now that the 77 residents have been evicted they are
told that they are not eligible for RDP houses because they have already been
granted their subsidy. While SOHCOC is making a profit and calling itself a
'non-profit organization' we have been evicted and our right to housing has
been taken from us. The capitalists that have invested in SOHCO have taken our
subsidies and we are left homeless and with no other options.  Valley View is
clearly no longer a public-private initiative it now only follows market rules
where commercial profit making is more important than our families.

If there have to be further negotiations the evicted residents must be allowed
to collect their post from the flats and they must be removed from the credit
bureau black list.

The evicted residents are also requesting that the public protector investigate
SOHCO. Thuli Madonsela has won the confidence of the people and she can be
trusted to investigate SOHCO fairly.

Comrades visiting Durban for the COP 17 conference are welcome to join the
picket line at the Valley View flats in Hillary. There will be further protests
tonight and if the police are bought in to break up the picket line the evicted
residents will return their protests to the SOHCO offices.

Contact Details: Bonginkosi:  083 735 0171, Nomfundo: 082 541 0855, Ntombi: 073
580 2306     ------------
http://www.abahlali.org
http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/
http://www.antieviction.org.za 

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Labels: Activism, Africa, Congress of South African Trade Unions, homeless-activism

[Abahlali] Occupy Durban!

http://www.abahlali.org - Sekwanele! - http://antieviction.org.za/


27 November 2011
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Occupy Durban!
Occupations Currently Underway in Hillary, KwaMashu and Pinetown

We are human beings, not dogs, and every human being has a right to a decent
home and a right, if they choose, to a place in the city. Economic, political
and legal systems that deny these rights are a threat to our humanity and must
be resisted. There is enough money and space in this world for every person to
have a decent home. The problem is that the money and space are being held by
the few to exclude the many. If the few continue to exclude the many then it is
our responsibility to ourselves, our families and our communities to resist
this oppression.

In South Africa the state uses violent demolitions and evictions to prevent
poor people from developing land and building informal homes on our own. The
economic system prevents those without money from buying or renting formal
homes. The state promises formal houses to the poor but the number of people
without houses is growing, most of the houses built by the state are unfit for
human beings and in the rural peripheries of the cities. For some people the
promise of a house has turned into the nightmare of forced removal to a transit
camp.

We are in the middle of the Sixteen Days of Activism to end violence against
women and children. Many conferences are being held. There are many discussions
on television. Yet who will stand with the poor, with poor women and their
children, when the state or private landowners send out the police or security
guards to evict them, demolish their homes and steal their building materials?
We do not see or hear from all these NGOs that are talking about the rights of
women and children when the state and private landowners use violence to deny
poor women and their children the right to a home.

As a movement we are struggling to build a society in which there is an
economic system where human beings come before profit and a political system in
which leaders take direction from below. We are struggling to build a society
in which there will be a fair distribution of land and decent housing for all.
But we are alive now, our children are growing now. We are living in the rain
and with shack fires now. Therefore it is clear that we also have to take
direct action to struggle for what land and housing we can get right now even
as we continue the long struggle for a more democratic and just world.

Occupy Hillary

Four weeks ago 77 people were evicted from the Valley View flats in Hillary.
These flats are owned by SOHCO which is a social housing company. Social
housing was set up to cover those who don't qualify for RDP houses but are too
poor to qualify for bonds. It is called a 'public private partnership'. But the
private side of this arrangement has taken over the public side. Tenants are
being exploited by paying rentals that will, over their lives, be worth much
more than the value of the flats and those that are falling behind are being
evicted. They remain unable to get RDP houses and unable to get housing through
the market and are therefore being excluded from access to housing. Social
housing is therefore failing and it will continue to fail until the alliance
between the government and private investors looking to make private profit is
abandoned and replaced with an alliance between the government and
co-operatives of people needing housing.

Last night 50 of the evicted people returned to the flats to occupy them. The
police succeeded in forcing them out again. Tonight they have returned to
reoccupy the flats. If they are evicted again they will return tomorrow night.

Contact Details for the Hillary Occupation:

S'fiso: 079 818 1987
Nomfundo: 082 541 0855

Occupy KwaMashu

The KwaMashu comrades were first evicted from eBhandeni, which was in Siyanda
in KwaMashu in 2009. They were evicted by Nandi Mandela as a road was being
built. It was said that the road was important for the 2010 World Cup and that
the poor people would have to make way. They were never given alternative
accommodation as demanded by the law and were just left homeless.

They have tried several times to engage with the councilor, Mr Lucky Mdlalose
who has neglected them. After a long time of failing to get any help from the
councilor they decided to occupy the vacant land which is next to the school
called Thobile Primary School. On Wednesday last week the shacks that they had
built on the land were demolished by people from the Municipality. The cars
that there were driving had these number plates: NDM 6902, NDM 6903 and NDM
6999. The comrades were brave and they rebuilt their shacks the next day.

On Friday the municipality came with cars that had these number plates: NDM
6963 and NDM 6903. They demolished the shacks again and this time they also
stole the people's building material. The community went to the police station
to open a case of theft. The police refused to open a case but one police
officer did call the councilor who responded by saying that as there is COP 17
coming the councilors have been given a mandate to make sure that no one is
dirtying the community and that they must take care of the animals and nature.
Later there was a debate on Vibe FM between the councilor and Bandile Mdlalose,
the AbM Secretary General. During that debate the councilor said that he would
make arrangements for alternative accommodation but he has not contacted them.
Around thirty people have now decided that on Monday morning they are going to
occupy the KwaMashu community hall with their children as there were all made
homeless by Nandi Mandela and then again by the Municipality and the Councilor
is doing nothing to protect them. The occupation will start at around 7 a.m.
Tomorrow.

Contact details for the KwaMashu Occupation:

Jabulile : 074 542 5939
Mama Mdlalose 073 501 4200

Occupy Pinetown

The eMmaus land occupation, in Pinetown, was founded in September 2010. These
people had previously been evicted by the Mahogany Ridge 2 Property Owners'
Association and before that by the Roman Catholic Church after it sold its land
to industry. They had been left homeless after these evictions and needed a
place to stay. Since then they have suffered more demolition and theft of their
building material. The Mahogany Ridge 2 Property Owners' Association has also
put an electric fence around the occupation which is very dangerous for
children. The land owners are currently trying to get the people evicted
through the courts. AbM is fighting the case in the courts and on the 19th of
October 2011 the movement organised a mass march on the landlords in defense of
the land occupation.

Contact details for the Pinetown Occupation:

Khanyi Dlamuka, eMmaus AbM Coordinator: 071 218 3007

It is clear that to many people in government, and to many rich people, the
poor remain dirt, something to swept out of the cities. If housing is to be
given to us it is housing that is unfit for human beings and will hide us away
in rural human dumping grounds. In Durban our attempts to organise and struggle
for land and housing have been met with serious and violent repression from the
state and the ruling party. Neither the economic system nor the political
system are working for the poor and therefore we will continue to struggle for
justice. We invite all the comrades who are in Durban for the COP 17 meeting to
come and show their solidarity for the occupations in Hillary, KwaMashu and
eMmaus and for our struggle for the right to organise for land and housing and
to be able to engage the state meaningfully.

For further comment contact Abahlali baseMjondolo at: 031 304 6420.
------------
http://www.abahlali.org
http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/
http://www.antieviction.org.za 

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Labels: #Occupy, #OWS, Activism, Africa, south africa

[Abahlali] AbM Press Conference to Announce Mass Protest - 22 November, 10:00 a.m.

http://www.abahlali.org - Sekwanele! - http://antieviction.org.za/


Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Tuesday, 22 November 2011


Abahlali baseMjondolo Youth League to March to Demand the Immediate Removal of
Nigel Gumede from Office

AbM Youth League to take to the streets and demand the removal of Nigel Gumede
as Chairperson of the Housing Portfolio Committee and Infrastructure for
eThekwini Municipality


WHAT: On Thursday, 24 November 2011, Abahlali baseMjondolo's Youth League will
march to demand the immediate removal of Nigel Gumede as Chairperson of the
Housing Portfolio Committee and Infrastructure for the eThekwini Municipality.
This demand comes in the wake of threatening statements that have come from
Gumede toward Abahlali baseMjondolo Chairperson, S'bu Zikode, and other members
of Abahlali over the last two years. These statements by Gumede, especially in
the context of the repression that AbM has faced, show that Gumede is a serious
threat to democracy in Durban. Gumede's intimidation undermine our confidence
in the official goodwill that will be needed to make the current negotiations
with the Mayor's office a success.

Gumede has also been grossly ineffective in his role and has discounted the
needs of the poor time and time again during this tenure. We are living in life
threatening conditions year after and year refuse to keep waiting indefinitely
for decent housing and services.

Nigel Gumede is a direct threat to our ability to address and to overcome the
life threatening and undignified conditions in which we have been forced to
live for too long. It is these conditions that mean that we are the people in
the City who are most at risk of climate change. He must resign now!


WHEN & WHERE:

· Press Conference: on 22 November 2011, 10am at the Abahlali
baseMjondolo office, Salisbury Centre, 347-351 Dr Pixley kaSeme aka West
Street. Durban

· Protest: on 24 November 2011, the march starts at Botha Park at 8am



WHO: The Youth League of Abahlali baseMjondolo has put out the call to march to
AbM members in over 20 shack settlements around the Durban area. They have also
rallied allies who represent sister communities of taxi workers, street
traders, hostel dwellers and others. We will fill the streets of Durban with a
clear and firm demand for Nigel Gumede to go.



CONTACT: AbM Office: 031 304 6420 (071 424 2815)

Mazwi Nzimande : 074 222 8601------------
http://www.abahlali.org
http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/
http://www.antieviction.org.za

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Labels: Activism, Africa, south africa

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists 21 Nov 2011

Workers of Egypt: Rise up for the victory of the revolution

Nearly a year into our glorious revolution, the regime of oppression and corruption ledby the SCAF has not ceased to impose itself by force, attempting to erase traces of the revolution and to prevent the impoverished, toiling masses from reaping the fruitsof their great struggle. The regime of repression that is protected by the military hadimagined that the revolution was buried and ended, and that the people that rose uplast January and destroyed the massive machines of oppression would today submit inthe face of tear gas canisters, cartridges and live ammunition.

The multitude now facingdeath in the name of rescuing the revolution, in confronting remnants of the criminalregime shall triumph as they have triumphed before. And the tools of oppression thatwere smashed on 28th January will be destroyed anew at the will of the revolutionaries.The regime has proven beyond a doubt that it is but a deformed continuation of Mubarak's obsolete rule. Our reclamation of those companies stolen by privatizationunder Mubarak's rule is being resisted by the regime today.

Those privileges endowedby Mubarak on the elite class of investors continue to be protected by the militaryregime. The minimum wage that workers called for in the name of a dignified life isbeing circumvented by Mubarak’s loyalists. The cold-blooded murder of revolutionariesat the hands of Mubarak's butchers continues with patent debauchery at the hands of the military rulers.

Workers stepped forward last February to rescue the revolution, as labor strikesspread to all corners of Egypt to support the uprising, setting Cairo, Mahalla, Suezand Alexandria ablaze; workers in all of Egypt's governorates and its factories andinstitutions both public and private committed to the struggle. The dictator was forced tostep down when workers’ strikes paralyzed the joints of the regime and threatened itscollapse, - the regime chose to rescue itself by sacrificing its head.

Today the revolution will not be cheated once again and will not be pacified with sedatives. The working classthat delivered the revolution to victory in February will not be late to rescue the heroesof the revolution that today hold their ground steadfastly in the face of the regime of corruption and repression. The companies occupied in January workers will return tooccupy soon again and the workers that made their way to the squares of Tahrir, elShoun and el Arba'in will go there once more; the working class will reawaken with their heroic struggle to erase - at the side of the revolutionaries - the remnants of Mubarak's regime and build a revolutionary path on the basis of justice and freedom.

The Revolutionary Socialists
21 November 2011

Labels: Africa, democracy, Egypt, Protest

Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers Statement

Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers Statement
9 November 2011

Funds raised through our community's efforts to sell our book, No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way, is making it possible for Doreen Lewis to bury her son who died tragically days ago.

Last week, one of our own youth, 24 year old Leroy Van Wyk, passed away. He was taken to the local Delft Clinic with a severe 'headache'. His symptoms were scoffed at and he was sent away with some pain tablets. (As poor people, Delft Clinic often refuses to take our health seriously and usually sends us away with Panado or Paracetamol even though we have much more serious illnesses).

A few days later, Leroy was rushed back to the Clinic where he passed away. We still do not know what is the real cause of death.

As often happens in our communities, family members who are unemployed often are unable to pay the exorbitant costs of funerals. Doreen Lewis, an unemployed single mother who has been very active in our struggle from day one, barely has a cent in her name.

However, after convening a mass meeting of the community, we unanimously voted to use the profit we as authors have made so far from Cape Town sales of our anthology, to pay for the funeral of Leroy. To us, this collective need was so much more important than our individual needs. We are pretty certain that if it were not for this book, we would not have been able to bury our son.

We feel that this gesture indicates our resolve as a community to stay united in our fight for housing and dignity for our community and for the whole of Blikkiesdorp.

The funeral will be on Friday the 11th of November 2011 at 9am. The body will be at Doreen's home in Blikkiesdorp (#16 in M-Block). We will be at the church at 10am and the graveyard at 11am .

For more information contact:

Jerome @ 0731438886
Willy @ 0731443619

Labels: Africa, south africa

Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers Statement

Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers Statement
9 November 2011

Funds raised through our community's efforts to sell our book, No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way, is making it possible for Doreen Lewis to bury her son who died tragically days ago.

Last week, one of our own youth, 24 year old Leroy Van Wyk, passed away. He was taken to the local Delft Clinic with a severe 'headache'. His symptoms were scoffed at and he was sent away with some pain tablets. (As poor people, Delft Clinic often refuses to take our health seriously and usually sends us away with Panado or Paracetamol even though we have much more serious illnesses).

A few days later, Leroy was rushed back to the Clinic where he passed away. We still do not know what is the real cause of death.

As often happens in our communities, family members who are unemployed often are unable to pay the exorbitant costs of funerals. Doreen Lewis, an unemployed single mother who has been very active in our struggle from day one, barely has a cent in her name.

However, after convening a mass meeting of the community, we unanimously voted to use the profit we as authors have made so far from Cape Town sales of our anthology, to pay for the funeral of Leroy. To us, this collective need was so much more important than our individual needs. We are pretty certain that if it were not for this book, we would not have been able to bury our son.

We feel that this gesture indicates our resolve as a community to stay united in our fight for housing and dignity for our community and for the whole of Blikkiesdorp.

The funeral will be on Friday the 11th of November 2011 at 9am. The body will be at Doreen's home in Blikkiesdorp (#16 in M-Block). We will be at the church at 10am and the graveyard at 11am .

For more information contact:

Jerome @ 0731438886
Willy @ 0731443619

Labels: Africa, south africa

Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For “Stupid” Insults! Part II

Nana Akyea Mensah's Corner Feature Article,
By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

There is no doubt that Mr. Ochere-Darko is feeling the heat and the fallouts of his extremely embarrassing behaviour. He has gone into damage control mode, short of doing the right thing. He even seems to be ready to tell any lie, rather than to apologize for the obvious misbehaviour in public. And he makes a mess of those lies too, just as he made a mess of the charge that J.B. Danquah was a CIA agent. He lied to defend Danquah, and he is lying to defend himself! A good reason why the current apologies of Ochere-Darko are unacceptable is simply because he even lies about the fact that he did not insult Dr. Omane Boamah, whilst we all see and hear Ochere-Darko clearly asking, “Why is he so stupid?”, amid the staccato of “stupidity,” and “stupid” per second, “Would you stop this stupidity? Why is he so stupid? You are sitting here and accusing somebody of being a CIA agent, what sort of stupidity is that? What is this stupidity?” Gabby never explained why it is wrong to accuse "somebody of being a CIA agent"!

Labels: Africa, African diaspora, Politics

Ochere-Darko Must Render Proper Apologies For “Stupid” Insults! Part II

Nana Akyea Mensah's Corner Feature Article,
By Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro.

There is no doubt that Mr. Ochere-Darko is feeling the heat and the fallouts of his extremely embarrassing behaviour. He has gone into damage control mode, short of doing the right thing. He even seems to be ready to tell any lie, rather than to apologize for the obvious misbehaviour in public. And he makes a mess of those lies too, just as he made a mess of the charge that J.B. Danquah was a CIA agent. He lied to defend Danquah, and he is lying to defend himself! A good reason why the current apologies of Ochere-Darko are unacceptable is simply because he even lies about the fact that he did not insult Dr. Omane Boamah, whilst we all see and hear Ochere-Darko clearly asking, “Why is he so stupid?”, amid the staccato of “stupidity,” and “stupid” per second, “Would you stop this stupidity? Why is he so stupid? You are sitting here and accusing somebody of being a CIA agent, what sort of stupidity is that? What is this stupidity?” Gabby never explained why it is wrong to accuse "somebody of being a CIA agent"!

Labels: Africa, African diaspora, Politics

The Gadhafi I Know - A Commentary on the Libyan Leader

The Gadhafi I Know - A Commentary on the Libyan Leader:

(FinalCall.com) - Listening and looking at the news reports on Libya since the turmoil began earlier this year, the corporate media portrayal of the North African country and its unjustly deposed leader is a depiction that's nowhere near the Muammar Gadhafi I know. I traveled to Libya for the first time in February, 1977 with Minister Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam and reflecting on our relationship with Muammar Gadhafi and the Libyan people that spans decades, it is disheartening to hear these reports which imply that in 42 years, Muammar Gadhafi has done nothing for Libya and his people. I thought long and hard about how the Western press shaped how Muammar Gadhafi is seen by the world since the uprisings against the Libyan government started in March.

I was a member of the Nation of Islam for nine years when Muammar Gadhafi came to power on September 1, 1969 in what later became known to the world as the Great Al-Fateh Revolution. Young people engaged in struggle worldwide were proud of the group of army officers led by the 27-year-old Muammar Gadhafi. He was inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and the Free Officer Movement that swept King Farouk out of power who was more concerned with pleasing England and Western interests than caring for the needs of his people. So it was in Libya where the young officers took power from its monarch, King Idriss Al-Sanousi, another minion of foreign powers. At the time of the Al-Fateh revolution, the Libyan people were poor and only 15 percent of the people had an education. We all took notice when the young officers led by Brother Gadhafi nationalized the oil industry in Libya; boldly closed the American and British military bases there and banned alcohol because the Libyans were an Islamic people.
The Gadhafi I know is the Gadhafi who came to power to change the power equation where outside forces were taking advantage of Libya's rich oil deposits for their own benefit while the Libyan people suffered in abject poverty and squalor.

Labels: Africa, African diaspora, africans, colonialism, international news, Libya, neo colonialism

The Gadhafi I Know - A Commentary on the Libyan Leader

The Gadhafi I Know - A Commentary on the Libyan Leader:

(FinalCall.com) - Listening and looking at the news reports on Libya since the turmoil began earlier this year, the corporate media portrayal of the North African country and its unjustly deposed leader is a depiction that's nowhere near the Muammar Gadhafi I know. I traveled to Libya for the first time in February, 1977 with Minister Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam and reflecting on our relationship with Muammar Gadhafi and the Libyan people that spans decades, it is disheartening to hear these reports which imply that in 42 years, Muammar Gadhafi has done nothing for Libya and his people. I thought long and hard about how the Western press shaped how Muammar Gadhafi is seen by the world since the uprisings against the Libyan government started in March.

I was a member of the Nation of Islam for nine years when Muammar Gadhafi came to power on September 1, 1969 in what later became known to the world as the Great Al-Fateh Revolution. Young people engaged in struggle worldwide were proud of the group of army officers led by the 27-year-old Muammar Gadhafi. He was inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and the Free Officer Movement that swept King Farouk out of power who was more concerned with pleasing England and Western interests than caring for the needs of his people. So it was in Libya where the young officers took power from its monarch, King Idriss Al-Sanousi, another minion of foreign powers. At the time of the Al-Fateh revolution, the Libyan people were poor and only 15 percent of the people had an education. We all took notice when the young officers led by Brother Gadhafi nationalized the oil industry in Libya; boldly closed the American and British military bases there and banned alcohol because the Libyans were an Islamic people.
The Gadhafi I know is the Gadhafi who came to power to change the power equation where outside forces were taking advantage of Libya's rich oil deposits for their own benefit while the Libyan people suffered in abject poverty and squalor.

Labels: Africa, African diaspora, africans, colonialism, international news, Libya, neo colonialism

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DISPATCHES MILITARY SPECIALISTS TO UGANDA TO COMBAT ACHOLI GUERRILLAS

THE FOURTH WORLD / USA (APNS) -- Corporate news agencies are reporting that President Barack H. Obama has announced to the US Congress the deployment of nearly 100 combat-equipped troopers and various special-operations ‘advisers’ to central Africa with the goal of wrestling power from an indigenous Christian Ugandan guerrilla force known as the Lord’s Resistance Army and its claimed spiritual leader, Joseph Kony.

The Lord's Resistance Army, or movement, is an ethnic-driven, anti-government indigenous insurgency that began in 1987 with the goal of unseating current Ugandan head-of-state Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who gained political power after the ousting of the Okello regime following the 1981-1986 Ugandan Bush War (or ’Luwero War’). An outgrowth of the Holy Spirit Movement, (HSM) the LRA claims to support the establishment of a religious based state government and social system incorporating Christian religious principles and ethnic Acholi cultural traditions they say are rejected by the current government structure. The guerrilla organisation has been accused by outside observers as a particularly violent band guilty of numerous human rights violations including, but not limited to, sexual assault, rendition, collective punishments levied against civilians, the torture of captives and the forceful conscription of youths for deployment as field combatants.

In a letter dispatched to congressional representatives, Mr. Obama articulated the necessity for US force as a means to ‘...assist African forces in the removal of [LRA leader] Joseph Kony and the leadership of the LRA from the battlefield’. Earlier this year the United States reported that it would provide remote-controlled aircraft technology and other military ‘assistance’ to the Ugandan and Burundi governments as part of a foreign aid package rumored to amount to as much as 45 million USD.The US president, a ‘winner’ of the Nobel Peace Prize, dutifully raised the widespread violence attributed to the LRA as a conscientious justification for the further escalation of US military involvement on the continent. Interestingly, this decision comes at a time when the United States is directly engaged in military entanglements within several nations, including the strongly ambiguous neo-colonialist occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many dissenting international observers are questioning the logic, the necessity and the substantial cost of such an action and appropriately raise the severe and strongly contested domestic financial crisis being played out on the streets of the US and the rest of the capitalist world as a reason not to engage in any additional international conflicts. Although most mainstream news agencies are willing to feature this story without criticism, the independent news service, Democracy Now! has reported that the African nation’s Lake Albert basin has been found to contain significant petroleum reserves estimated to produce up to 6 billion barrels for the benefit of the global energy market.

They also report that industry researchers have suggested that this may be the most lucrative in-country find of African crude in more than twenty years. Further, there is widespread speculation that Uganda’s recent economic association with Iran may also have spurred this most recent US action as the two countries have openly sought to develop an economic relationship based on Uganda’s oil production. In 2009 President Museveni met with Iran’s leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss a co-operation agreement that includes financial assistance for an oil refinery in Uganda and state-sponsored training for its personnel in Tehran. 2011-10-19 01:30:30 / Staff Writers / Inteligenta Indigena/Aboriginal Press News Service (APNS)
 --
Sources:1) Luis Ramirez: ‘Obama Deploys Troops to Central’. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/central/Obama-Deploys-Troops-to-Central-Africa--131895118.html>2) Goodman, Amy: ‘Democracy Now! | Headlines for October 17, 2011’, 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.democracynow.org/2011/10/17/headlines>3) Haywood, Eddie, and Alex Lantier. "US Deploys Special Forces Troops to Central Africa." World Socialist Web Site. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/oct2011/ugan-o17.shtml>

Labels: Africa, African-Diaspora, Military, war

Statement on Threats Made to S'bu Zikode

http://www.abahlali.org - Sekwanele! - http://antieviction.org.za/


Statement on Threats Made to S'bu Zikode

When we heard that eThekweni Mayor, James Nxumalo, agreed to meet with a
delegation from the shackdwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM),
we were hopeful that a new page was being turned. Perhaps now there can
be meaningful engagement between the organised poor and the City of Durban.

But if there is to be real progress, then the actions of Nigel Gumede
(Chairperson of the Housing and Infrastructure Portfolio Committee) in that
meeting must be condemned. Gumede made angry and violent threats against S'bu
Zikode, AbM Chairperson. We must insist that for genuine partnership to be
built, it must be on the basis of respect for all people. The fragile prospects
of new beginnings in Durban cannot be undermined by Gumede's ongoing hostility
and disrespect. This sort of behaviour cannot be allowed to impede the full
flowering of our democracy.

Issued by: Bishop Rubin Phillip,
Bishop of the Diocese of Natal, Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
Date: 18 October 2011

Endorsed by: Church Land Programme with unanimous support from all participants
at the Diakonia Council of Churches reflection day on prophetic ministry, being
held today at Marianhill, KZN.
------------
http://www.abahlali.org
http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/
http://www.antieviction.org.za 

Labels: Africa, south africa

Statement on Threats Made to S'bu Zikode

http://www.abahlali.org - Sekwanele! - http://antieviction.org.za/


Statement on Threats Made to S'bu Zikode

When we heard that eThekweni Mayor, James Nxumalo, agreed to meet with a
delegation from the shackdwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM),
we were hopeful that a new page was being turned. Perhaps now there can
be meaningful engagement between the organised poor and the City of Durban.

But if there is to be real progress, then the actions of Nigel Gumede
(Chairperson of the Housing and Infrastructure Portfolio Committee) in that
meeting must be condemned. Gumede made angry and violent threats against S'bu
Zikode, AbM Chairperson. We must insist that for genuine partnership to be
built, it must be on the basis of respect for all people. The fragile prospects
of new beginnings in Durban cannot be undermined by Gumede's ongoing hostility
and disrespect. This sort of behaviour cannot be allowed to impede the full
flowering of our democracy.

Issued by: Bishop Rubin Phillip,
Bishop of the Diocese of Natal, Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
Date: 18 October 2011

Endorsed by: Church Land Programme with unanimous support from all participants
at the Diakonia Council of Churches reflection day on prophetic ministry, being
held today at Marianhill, KZN.
------------
http://www.abahlali.org
http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/
http://www.antieviction.org.za 

Labels: Africa, south africa

Abahlali baseMjondolo take to the Streets, demand end to vicious evictions in eMmause

http://www.abahlali.org - Sekwanele! - http://antieviction.org.za/


Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Abahlali baseMjondolo take to the Streets, demand end to vicious evictions in
eMmause

South Africa’s largest social movement calls for respect, and human right to
decent housing and safety

Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal

This morning, Abahlali baseMjondolo(AbM) members and allies will be joining a
march from Shepstone Road to Tollage Road to call for an end to all demolitions
and evictions in the eMmause community. Since late 2010, hundreds of people
have had their shacks destroyed by the landlord, Mahogany Ridge 2 Property
Owners Association. Hundreds more have been brutally evicted. These actions by
the landlord present a gross violation of people’s right to housing and
safety. Today we are marching for land and housing in the cities.

We have a right to cities, a right which we are prepared to live for or die
for. AbM is in over 64 communities nation wide and has over 10,000 active
members.

The marchers will acting peacefully to bring attention to the desperately
broken system of democracy that has developed since the end of apartheid. It is
in reality a system that has, to put it simply, replaced one set of white
elites with another set of black elites, all with little interest in real
democracy. Democracy for the poor has meant being moved at the will of the
rich, living in shacks and waiting decades for permanent housing. Democracy for
the poor in this country has also meant being continually marginalized from
conversations and tables where decisions are being made about our lives and the
lives of our children and families. We are now in the middle of the census. But
we are tired of having government officials coming to count us, talk to us and
make empty promises. They want us to stop building shacks because they do not
want us to help ourselves while they themselves are living in decent places.

Abahlali is calling for simple things: justice, housing as a human right, and
the chance to be full participants in our lives without being threatened or
attacked by political officials. Abahlali's aims are peaceful but have been met
with disdain and brutality. Abahlali is calling for an end to the
politically-motivated repression and fear mongering which we have been forced
to endure at the hands of the government and its thugs.

The protest is also meant to highlight a recent series of disrespectful and
dangerous interactions Abahlali has had with government officials. Indeed,
despite more than six years of rallies, workshops, and community mobilization,
Abahlali had until last week been repeatedly denied its democratic right to
meet with and discuss its demands with elected officials.

Marchers will make their way to the offices of Mahogany Ridge 2 Property Owners
Association where they will present a list of demands which include, that a
hazardous electrical fence that was erected by the landlord be immediately
removed, and that the land should rightly be given back to the relevant South
Africans from whose grandparents it was stolen. This march marks the beginning
of a series of protests that will culminate on December 3rd, the global day of
action against climate change. We will claim the space as the masses on
December 3rd. We are calling for justice, equality, human dignity. We call for
the world not to stand aside and look on as we are being oppressed.

For more information please contact:

Muzi Mkhize Protest March Convener: 083 301 9856
Khanyi Dlamuka eMmaus Coordinator: 071 218 3007
AbM Office: 031 304 6420 (071 424 2815)

Memorandum of Demands to Mr. Glen Lion Demsy, Mahogony Ridge 2 Property Owners
Association, Wednesday, 19 October 2011

We, the residents, men and women of Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA in
eMmaus, in Pinetown, in KwaZulu-Natal are democrats committed to the
flourishing of this country. We speak for ourselves and direct our own
struggle. We have been mobilized by our own suffering and our hope for a better
future. It is time to take seriously the fact that the distribution of land is
a serious problem in our country and that land was stolen from our ancestors
and that this has impoverished us. It is also time to take seriously the fact
that land continues to be taken from the poor in the name of development and
the market and that this continues to impoverish us.

For too long the commercial value of land here in eMmause, in nearby Motala
Heights and in many other areas has been put before its social value. We demand
that social value of land come before its commercial value.

For too long we have been living under constant threats of eviction in our own
land. We demand an immediate and permanent end to all evictions. We demand land
security.

For too long the right to cities has been denied to the shack dwellers and the
poor in this country. We demand the right to live in the cities.

For too long the provision of basic services has been denied to us and the
poor. We demand the provision of all basic services such as water and
sanitation, electricity, road access, refuse collection etc to us.

For too long we have been fenced in the shacks and transit camps. We demand Mr.
Demsey immediately remove the electric fence that has been installed on this
land. We also demand the immediate removal of security guards from our
community.

For too long the state and the business sector have united against the poor. We
demand that the eThekwini municipality to stop sending Mr. Mdletshe to threaten
us with eviction. We demand that Mdletshe stop himself from being used as the
puppet of the eThekwini municipality and that he decide to work with the people
of this city.

For too long our struggle has been redirected to courts because it is too
expensive for us to struggle there. We demand that that you withdraw your court
proceedings and negotiate a way forward with us.

If we are given no option to negotiate we are prepared to fight for this land
and against all evictions and harassment in courts and in streets.

Land is not for sale in Africa. We demand that you return your money to those
who sold this land to you and bring our land back.

Just as people around the city, the country and world are uniting in support of
our struggle we express our support for our comrades elsewhere.

If this memorandum is received without conscious Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement
SA will reconsider another plan B… We will not give up the struggle for this
land or for the right of all people to live in peace and safety.------------
http://www.abahlali.org
http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/
http://www.antieviction.org.za 

Labels: Africa, homeless-activism, south africa